Maggie Smith Battled Graves Disease And Breast Cancer Before Passing Peacefully In Hospital At 89

From fighting Graves’ disease to enduring breast cancer treatments, Dame Maggie Smith, better known as Harry Potte’s Minerva McGonagall, remained an unstoppable force defying the odds of life.

Dame Maggie Smith was a British actress known for her iconic Harry Potter and Downton Abbey performances.

But she unfortunately passed on September 27, at 89, leaving behind a legacy of a journey spanning over six decades.

Doctors diagnosed her with cancer in 2009, which she battled and faced challenges in the later years of her career.

Moreover, the veteran artist had a version of Graves’ ophthalmopathy, which caused visible changes in her eyes.

After a decade of diagnosis and despite all the grueling treatments, Maggie Smith left the world, but not without admiration.

Maggie Smith’s Struggle Coping Illness And Her Battle Through Decades Of Fame And Fragile Health

Maggie Smith‘s health struggles began only after her diagnosis in 2007. She revealed that she had a lump in her breast, which turned out to be breast cancer.

Suddenly, one day, she began feeling unwell, and during the diagnosis, medical experts shocked her with the news.

Even during the treatment, which involved heavy chemo, she continued working on Harry Potter films. Maggie even lost her hair in the process.

Her followers and the industry expected her to return to the set after the treatment, but given her age, the process turned out very hard.

Besides breast cancer, Smith also suffered from glaucoma and underwent hip replacement surgery in her late 80s.

Way before she struggled with cancer and surgeries, she faced issues with Graves’ disease in the late 1980s.

Dame Maggie Smith underwent radiotherapy and optical surgery to treat her condition, but it permanently changed her vision.

She had extreme weight loss as part of her battle with Graves’ disease, causing hyperthyroidism and metabolic disorder.

Though details of her weight loss aren’t well documented, Smith lost significant weight twice in her lifetime. She once lost weight in the 1980s and again during her cancer treatment.

The British superstar actress passed away peacefully at 89 on September 27, 2024, in a London hospital.

Though she fought a long health battle with cancer and other diseases, her family hasn’t officially stated the cause of her passing.